Hoping to better protect themselves should an injury befall Jorge Posada, the Yankees yesterday moved close to an agreement with free-agent catcher Joe Oliver for one year at around $1 million.

Oliver is a journeyman who helped the Mariners reach the AL Championship Series. Seattle had begun last season planning to use Dan Wilson and Tom Lampkin as its catching tandem. But both were injured at points during the season and Oliver filled in well, hitting .265 in 69 games with 10 homers and 35 RBIs.

Chris Turner performed better than expected in spot duty last year for the Yankees, but the team was concerned that he could not be trusted to play a more extended role if Posada went down. Posada started 136 games at catcher last season and only Pittsburgh’s Jason Kendall (145) and Detroit’s Brad Ausmus (140) started more.

Oliver has a fine reputation for receiving and calling a game, but is not known as a strong thrower, having stopped just 11 percent of base stealers. No catcher worked as many innings behind the plate (4982/3) without allowing a passed ball.

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The Yankees picked up the 2001 option for $1.5 million on Glenallen Hill and gave Ryan Thompson his unconditional release.